Chartres Cathedral

Chartres Cathedral, forest, rivers, templar fortress, horses, Thomas Beckett… Chartres Cathedral, known worldwide for it’s extraordinary stain glass windows, springs out of the wheat fields of the Beauce. Just a few miles West and you enter the Perche region, a hilly landscape full of small fortresses, forests, rivers, fish and giant Percheron horses. The XIIth century Knight Templar’s fortress of Arville and the castle of Montmirail, where Henri II of England signed the peace treaty with Thomas Beckett, are among many of the interesting sights. And the l’Huisne river is ideal for an afternoon kayaking.